Hinge



Jan23,1968 I R. C.J.PALSON 3,365,094

HINGE Filed April 21, 1966 BYRICHVARD CJPALSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent HINGE Medfield, Mass, assignor to Data Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Richard C. .1. Palson, Packaging Corp., Massachusetts Filed Apr. 21, 1956, Ser. No. 544,132 7 Claims. (Cl. 220-31) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE One important object of this invention is to provide a hinge for a box cover and base that has just two hinge parts so as to make the alignment of the two hinges less critical and reduce hinge binding.

Another important object of this invention is to reduce in a plastic hinge the area of contact between the moving parts of the hinge to reduce friction and the wearing areas.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a hinge construction which may be incorporated inexpensively as an integral part of the container in which it is incorporated.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a hinge assembly for accomplishing the foregoing objects and which may be incorporated as an integral part of the container and be assembled without additional pins or other parts.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a hinge mechanism which is extremely simple in construction, durable, and easy to form.

To accomplish these and other objects the container of this invention includes a cover and a base. Secured as an integral part of the cover are two hinge parts, each of which includes a single pintle, and which extend toward one another. Formed as an integral part of the base are two hinge parts that mate with the parts on the cover and each of which includes a single recess to receive the pintle of the companion hinge part of the cover. A keeper in the form of an undercut is formed as an integral part of the base and cooperates with the recess and the pintle of each hinge to confine the pintle to the recess after the parts are once assembled.

These and other objects and features of this invention, along with its incident advantages, will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a box embodying a hinge assembly made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on an enlarged scale taken along the section line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the position of the hinge parts when the box is open;

FIG. 4 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view of the hinge parts.

The box shown in FIG. 1 includes a cover and base 12 pivotally connected together by a pair of hinge assemblies 14. The box itself is of the type which may be used to package cosmetics, toilet articles, or other similar products, is molded of a plastic material and may be attractively decorated. The two hinge assemblies are identical and only one will be described in detail.

The base 10 is provided about its side, rear and front walls 16, 17 and 19 with a surrounding skirt 18 secured to the top of the side, rear and front walls by a top flange 20. The outer surface of the walls 16, 17 and 19, the bottom of the flange 20, and the inner surface of the skirt 18 together define a channel 21 which faces downwardly about the box periphery. The upper part or outside of the channel provides a wide shoulder about the upper edge of the base and forms a platform for the lower edge of the cover.

The channel 21 along the rear wall 17 of the base is broken at two points 28 as shown in FIG. 1 to provide access for the male hinge parts formed on the cover. The ends 22 of the channel portion 24 that lies between the gaps 28 on the rear wall of the base form the female parts of the two hinge assemblies. In FIG. 4 the channel portion 24 is shown at its end 22 to have a curved configuration on the inside that defines a seat for the hinge pintle 42 secured to the cover. The arcuate seat 26 is defined by a radius substantially equal to the radius of the pintle 42 so that the pintle may rotate in position. Located in the gap 28 is a protrusion 30 formed as an integral part of the rear wall 32 of the base, and the protrusion 30 describes an undercut that retains the pintle in position within the arcuate seat 26. This will be described more fully in connection with the assembling of the hinges. I

The rear wall 34 of the cover 10 carries two male hinge parts 36, each adapted to cooperate with an end 22 of the channel portion 24. The parts 36 are mirror images of one another and only one will be described. The part 36 includes a subsLantiallyhorizontal plate 38 formed as an integral part of the rear wall 34. Depending from the plate 38 is a boss 40 which in turn carries the horizontally extending pintle 42. The pintles 42 extend toward one another; that is, both pintles extend into the opposite ends 22 of the channel portion 24 carried on the base when the hinge parts are assembled. As suggested above, the radius which defines the pintles 42 is substantially identical to the radius which defines the curvature of the seats 26 at the ends 22 of the channel portion 24.

The bosses 40 that carry the pintles 42 are just a few thousandths of an inch narrower than the width of the gaps 2.8 at the ends of the channel portion 24. Therefore, when the hinges are assembled, the cover is prevented from shifting laterally with respect to the base. The pintles themselves are quite short and accordingly extend only a short distance into the seats.

To assemble the separately molded cover and base, the pintles 42 are aligned with the seats 26 below the protrusions 30 with the cover in the open position with respect to the base. As the pintles are forced upwardly toward the seats, they ride up on the inclined surfaces 44 on the bottoms of the protrusions. Thus, the surfaces 44 serve as cams which force the pintles outwardly away from the rear wall 17 and cause the skirts 18 of the channel portion 24 to flex outwardly to allow the pintles to pass over the protrusions. The upper inclined surfaces 46 retain the pintles on the seats 26 within the channels. After the hinges are assembled, the cover may be swung to the closed position with the pintles in the seats as shown in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 1 it will be noted that the skirt 18 and the flange 20 are rounded at the outside margins 23 of the gaps at the portions which underlie the plates 38 so that the plates do not contact the skirt and flange and prevent the cover from opening fully. There may be provided depending stops 25 as shown in FIG. 1 to engage the plates 38 to support the cover in the open position. It will be appreciated that the plates 38 do not overlie the pintles 42 as the bosses 40 extend down at the inner edges of the plates, and therefore the ends 22 of the channel portion 24 are not rounded.

From the foregoing description it will be appreciated that but two pintles are employed in the hinge assemblies and consequently there are just two hinge points between the cover and base. As a result, somewhat less precision is required in forming the hinge parts because the align ment of the pintles is much less critical than in hinges having more than two. Further, the limited extent of the frictional contact between the seats and the pintles limits the area where wear may occur.

From the foregoing, those skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous modifications may be made of the present invention without departing from its spirit. Therefore, it is not intended to limit the scope of this invention to the single embodiment illustrated and described Rather, it is intended that the scope of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A box comprising a cover and a base, a hinge secured to the base and cover together, comprising means defining a pair of inverted open channel-shaped seats formed as an integral part of one wall of the base with the channels facing downwardly on that wall,

and a pair of spaced-apart hinge pintle means formed as an integral part of the cover and extending in opposite directions and retained in the seats.

2. A :box as defined in claim 1 further characterized by a protrusion formed as an integral part of the wall of the base adjacent the channels and supporting the hinge pintle means in the seats, said protrusion being dimensioned to permit passage of said pintle means through said channel to said seats.

3. A box as defined in claim 2 further characterized by said protrusions engaging a portion of the pintle means lying outside the seats.

4. A box as defined in claim 3 further characterized by said channel-shaped seats being formed by a continuous channel along the wall of the base,

a pair of gaps in the channel,

and supports forming part of the pintles and integral with the cover and disposed in the gaps.

5. A box as defined in claim 1 further characterized by spaced apart supports integral with the cover and pintles being carried by the supports and extending toward one another from their respective supports with the pintles lying in the seats, said supports and pintles comprising the hinge pintle means.

6. A box as defined in claim 5 further characterized by protrusions disposed on the wall of the base as an integral part thereof and engaging the supports for retaining the pintles in the seats, said protrusion being dimensioned to permit passage of said pintle means through said channel to said seats.

7. A box as defined in claim 6 further characterized by each of said supports including a plate and a depending boss with the boss carrying the pintle,

said channel-shaped seats being formed by a continuous channel along the wall of the base with the seats at the end thereof,

said bosses lying immediately adjacent the ends of the channel and preventing lateral displacement of the cover with respect to the base and means for limiting arcuate movement of said cover with said lastmentioned means comprising a stop mounted on said base positioned to contact said plate when said cover is opened.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1950 Kazimier 220-3l 1/1967 Optner 2203l 

